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Monday Night War – Raw History: Episode 201 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 79

September 25, 2017 | Posted by Kevin Pantoja
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Monday Night War – Raw History: Episode 201 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 79  


Raw History
Episode #201
March 17th, 1997 | War Memorial Auditorium in Syracuse, New York

WWF Champion: Sycho Sid (2) since 2/17/97
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Rocky Maivia (1) since 2/13/97
WWF European Champion: British Bulldog (1) since 3/397
WWF Tag Team Champions: Owen Hart and the British Bulldog (1) since 9/22/96

Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler did commentary.

Crush and Savio Vega w/ The Nation of Domination vs. The Legion of Doom
Right to the action this week. Faarooq and Ahmed Johnson, who will be teaming with these units at WrestleMania, were banned from ringside. The brawl got going instantly, as the teams fought in and out of the ring. Ahmed and Faarooq got some PIP promo time to hype the Chicago Street Fight. We also got PIP highlights from Madison Square Garden last night, where the NOD jumped Ahmed. That show is available on the WWE Network, and I’ve reviewed it before. While the teams brawled through a commercial, Faarooq jumped Ahmed from behind in the backstage area. LOD set up for the Doomsday Device, but Faarooq ran down for the DQ at 6:53. This was a lot of punch-kick stuff to kill time. At least it built towards the PPV well, so it gets points for that. [*]

The NOD only remained in control for a short time, as Ahmed Johnson ran down in a ridiculous outfit with his 2×4. They cleaned house and the crowd went absolutely nuts. The still unnamed D-Lo Brown ate the Doomsday Device. Lame match, but the fans were pumped, which is what you want to start a show.

To try and hook viewers, commentary said something went down earlier today and Gorilla Monsoon was on his way to the arena to clear up some stuff about the main event. Also, Shawn Michaels was rumored to be on his way to the arena.

Flash Funk w/ The Funkettes vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley w/ Chyna
Chyna finally officially has a name. Funk and Chyna got into a verbal spat before things started and his threat to hit Chyna got a huge pop. I don’t think she finally got hit until Austin hit her with a Stunner in February 1998. Flash started hot before having a leap frog countered to an electric chair drop. Funk still managed a flying leg drop, only for Chyna to pull Funk out of the ring to break the pin. HHH got two on a weird looking German, before leaping into a superkick for a Funk near fall. A Chyna distraction led to the Pedigree to end it at 5:47. Not bad stuff. A few spots came off weird, but Funk brought energy, while HHH and Chyna had a fine dynamic already. [*½]

Backstage, Shawn Michaels arrived!

Mascarita Sagrada Jr. and Mini Goldust vs. Mini Mankind and Mini Vader
Mini Vader got Vader’s legitimate theme. Mini Goldust didn’t look like a mini, as he was built more like a 13-year old or something. He got bullied by Vader a bit before coming back with generic arm drags and such. Basically, he wrestled nothing like Goldust. Future Lucha Underground star Mascarita Sagrada came in hot and flew all over the place. He eventually rolled up Mini Mankind to take it at 2:57. After the match, Mascarita shoved Vader off the ramp and hit a dive onto him. This was odd and didn’t add anything to the show. [NR]

Gorilla Monsoon confirmed that tonight’s Steel Cage match is indeed for the WWF Title, despite the protests of Undertaker fans.

Bret hart came out for an in-ring interview with Kevin Kelly. I miss the days when guys got interviewed in the ring, instead of just coming out and saying shit. Bret said he didn’t care that some people were upset with him, because he won the Royal Rumble and the Final Four match, so he deserved some respect. Bret dropped the “you scratch my back and I’ll stab yours” line here. He understood Undertaker’s frustrations, but said he’d give him a title shot. He said he’s glad Ken Shamrock was the referee at Mania and wanted him to hear the words “I Quit”. A subtlety great promo. Bret said cheesy babyface things, but did so in a way that helped the crowd remained split on him. Well done.

Mike Bell vs. The Sultan w/ Bob Backlund and Iron Sheik
Rocky Maivia joined commentary for this. Completely one-sided domination. Sultan won via Camel Clutch in 0.59. [NR]

Sultan got in Rocky’s face and reached for the Intercontinental Title. Rocky pulled it away and called it the “People’s belt.” Hey, the first sign of something The Rock would go on to use. Tony Atlas hopped the guardrail again (why is that allowed?) to prevent Rocky from getting into a fight this close to Mania. Fine segment, if only for the Rock flash. Does anyone care about this feud, though?

::WARZONE::

Shawn Michaels was brought out for his first interview since losing his smile. Girls lost their minds, as did Vince McMahon, who conducted the interview. He said his smile was back in San Antonio, he found it and will now bring it with him everywhere he goes. He thanked the fans for their support, before saying he was going to see Dr. Andrews next week. Shawn invited himself to WrestleMania and promised to be ringside for the Undertaker/Sid match.

Non-Title Match: WWF European Champion British Bulldog w/ Owen Hart vs. Vader w/ Mankind and Paul Bearer
This was here to build the upcoming Tag Team Title match. I don’t understand why it’s heel vs. heel to be honest. Though Bulldog is powerful, Vader proved to be too much, overwhelming him in the early stages. The tag match may be heel/heel, but Bulldog was trending towards babyface, so this had the right crowd dynamic. Bulldog came back with a shoulder block and busted out the stalling vertical, causing commentary to go nuts. I just remembered these two having some WCW Title matches back in 1993. Vader turned it back around with more power, until Bulldog caught him with a big slam. He went for the running powerslam, but Mankind grabbed Vader’s leg to prevent it, causing the DQ at 5:56. Fine power battle with some solid back and forth. [**¼]

The two teams brawled, with Bulldog using the urn to take out the challengers.

Aaron Ferguson vs. Billy Gunn
Ken Shamrock joined commentary for this for some reason. Oh, it’s because Billy spent the match focused on him. He won via shitty armbar at 2:01. [NR]

Post-match, Billy looked at Shamrock and said he didn’t seem so tough. He dared Shamrock to get in the ring, which is accepted. Shamrock took him down into a submission, but Billy claimed Ken couldn’t do it twice. On the second attempt, Ken slapped on the Ankle Lock and Billy tapped. Ken let him go, so Billy got a chair and threatened him, but left and claimed it wasn’t over.

Backstage, Steve Austin said he wasn’t impressed with Shamrock, because Billy had just had a match. He called Shamrock overrated and a piece of trash. Vince questioned why Austin was there, to which he logically explained it’s his job. Typical intense promo work from Austin. You just believed everything he said.

While the Steel Cage was erected, Sycho Sid got promo time backstage. He shouted a ton, telling Austin not to get involved and promising to powerbomb Bret through the floor.

WWF Championship Steel Cage Match: Sycho Sid (c) vs. Bret Hart
A fair amount of suspense and intrigue surrounded this, considering Austin and Undertaker being in the arena. Austin watched on a monitor as Bret and Sid traded blows. Bret tried a quick escape, but got caught and rammed into the cage. Sid attempted to leave through the door, but Bret grabbed his leg. Out came Austin, closing the door to make sure Sid couldn’t leave. Following a commercial, Sid nailed a shit looking Powerbomb. He climbed up to escape, but Austin met him at the top and they traded blows. It hit a point where Bret and Austin were both firing shots at Sid. Undertaker ran down to even things out, hitting Austin and preventing Bret from climbing over and out. Austin and Taker ended up on the floor and Austin whacked him with a chair. Bret made it through the door, but stopped to taunt. Undertaker miraculously got up and slammed the door on him, as Sid, who had been climbing over, touched the floor to win at 7:59. Not the best cage match, but it had a TON of heat and enough moving parts to make it interesting. [**½]

After a break, we get to the real reason this was a memorable show. Vince got in the ring to interview Bret, who shoved him. He called this bullshit and said goddamn a few times. Bret’s fed up with the injustice and said he should be WWF Champion. Austin came out on the Titantron to run down Bret for being a loser who couldn’t get the job done. Sid came back out and Bret said Sid knows the title belongs to him. Sid delivered the excellent “I DON’T KNOW SHIT, CRYBABY” line at the camera. He was so unintentionally great. Undertaker also showed up, so Bret took him out with a suicide dive. Austin showed up to brawl with Bret, while Undertaker entered the ring to fight with Sid. Security tried, but failed to keep things civil. To add to the intrigue, Shawn Michaels strolled out, with Vince freaking out over the possibility of him injuring himself further.

That’s how you end a show. Four top stars (and on injured top star) going to war and showing how much they care about the WWF Title. Again, I know HBK/Bret was the original plan, but it was never anywhere near as interesting as Bret/Austin.

WCW Uncensored 1997 Results
WCW United States Championship No DQ: Dean Malenko def. Eddie Guerrero (c) in 19:14 [****¼]
Ultimo Dragon def. Psychosis in 12:46
Glacier def. Mortis in 9:04
Strap Match: Buff Bagwell def. Scotty Riggs in 12:28
Tornado Match: Harlem Heat def. Public Enemy in 13:18
WCW Television Championship: Prince Iaukea (c) def. Rey Mysterio Jr. in 13:40
Team nWo def. Team Piper and Team WCW in 19:25


Reliving Nitro
Episode #79
March 17th, 1997 | Savannah Civic Center in Savannah, Georgia

WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Hulk Hogan (2) 8/10/96
WCW United States Champion: Dean Malenko (1) since 3/16/97
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Outsiders (1) since 10/27/96
WCW Television Champion: Prince Iaukea (1) since 2/17/97
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Syxx (1) since 2/23/97
WCW Women’s Championship: Akira Hokuto (1) since 12/29/96

The show kicked off with footage from the end of Uncensored, where Dennis Rodman helped the nWo win the main event. With the win, they can challenge for any WCW Title at any event. Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko hosted hour one.

Psychosis vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
Last night, Mysterio lost to Prince Iaukea. It went to a time limit draw (at about 12 minutes) before Iaukea won in extra time. Commentary put in effort, trying to do what they could to play up the history between the competitors. They said Psychosis followed Rey whenever he went, from Mexico to Japan to WCW. After taking a bit of a beating on the mat, Rey sent Psychosis outside and followed with a rana. Rey won in short order with the springboard rana at 3:47. This worked as more of a squash, which was disappointing because they could wow people if given the opportunity, as they did in ECW and at Bash at the Beach 1996. [NR]

Mean Gene interviewed Arn Anderson by the stage. Arn gave the sad news that he suffered a neck injury at Halloween Havoc and it has caused paralysis in his left hand. He must have the dreaded fusion surgery in his vertebrae and can’t wrestle again. Always keeping kayfabe alive, Arn said he held off the surgery until Horsemen business was taken of and with Ric Flair returning, he’s okay to do it now. He also told Kevin Sullivan he wanted to wipe the slate clean with him. Sad to see Arn go, as I always loved his work.

LAST NIGHT ~ Still images were shown of DDP getting interviewed. His wife, Kimberly, appeared with black spray paint on her. Randy Savage and Elizabeth appeared, saying they had nude photos of Kimberly in Playboy, before jumping DDP from behind.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Maxx
Maxx was DDP’s bodyguard at one point. DDP looked pissed and didn’t waste time, hitting the Diamond Cutter to win at 1:24. It got over how furious DDP was. [NR]

Mean Gene interviewed DDP about what happened last night. DDP called Liz a bimbo and told Savage that he has no problem bringing him into the real world. “You were born to be a chalk outline.” Goodness. Savage and Liz appeared in the stands, and Savage told him to take the bass out of his voice when talking to him. Savage said DDP was a no-name and he’s a legend. He pondered giving DDP a match, but DDP didn’t wait, running up into the crowd to get him. This feud ruled.

Hugh Morris and Konnan w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Joe Gomez and Renegade
Before the match, Eric Bischoff and the Outsiders showed up. Bischoff announced that the Outsiders will defend the titles tonight against some fine competition. The match went off with not much of interest. Konnan and Morris dominated Gomez. He finally made the big tag to Renegade, who did hot tag stuff. Like an idiot, Renegade tagged Gomez back in, even though he could barely stand on the apron. The Dungeon of Doom sent him outside and Morris hit No Laughing Matter on Gomez to win at 5:09. It went too long, but they at least worked tag formula and had a story with the finish, though I don’t believe it went anywhere. [½*]

Non-Title Match: WCW United States Champion Dean Malenko vs. Scotty Riggs
Malenko won the title and stole the show with Eddie, while Riggs lost to Bagwell again. Good job by Schiavone to note that though Malenko hasn’t been in WCW long, he’s been a champion most of his time there. Dean dropped Riggs on the guardrail, before hitting a stiff clothesline inside. Riggs got a small comeback, but ate a hotshot and got rolled up to lose in 2:31. [NR]

Dean addressed the camera and called out Syxx, saying he still wanted the Cruiserweight Title back.

The Giant and Lex Luger vs. Knuckles Nelson and T. Rantula
Knuckles Nelson and T. Rantula have to be the best team ever in terms of names. The crowd was hot for this, though you knew what would happen. Giant battered both and hit Chokeslams. The fans wanted to see Luger rack the large T. Rantula, but Giant pinned too early, so Luger had to run over and rush the spot. The match went 2:49. [NR]

Mean Gene returned to talk with the winners. Giant and Luger were excited that Sting officially came back to WCW, even though he was never truly in the nWo. I can’t believe it took them this long to talk about Sting. That’s really all they said.

LAST NIGHT ~ We got still images of Glacier vs. Mortis last night. A “martial arts” match.

Bobby Eaton vs. Ultimo Dragon w/ Sonny Oono
Eaton got in a “veteran move” in Tony’s words, but that was about it. Dragon rushed things, set Bobby up top and hit the Dragonrana. That got the three in 1:17. Oh. [NR]

I guess that was short to make time for the nWo, who had some promo time in the next segment. They basically jerked each other off for the duration. They bragged about having the titles and the “bad dudes” on their side. Outsiders vs. Steiners was announced for Spring Stampede, though it doesn’t end up happening. This did nothing.

HOUR NUMBER TWO! Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay replaced Zbyszko. They recapped the DDP/Savage segment from earlier because the match is now official for Spring Stampede.

Alex Wright and Mart Starr vs. Jeff Jarrett and Steve McMichael w/ Debra
Mongo and Jarrett interfered at Uncensored and cost Public Enemy their match. They worked as a well-oiled machine here. Mongo took out Starr’s knee with a football move, setting up the figure four for Jarrett to win at 1:52. [NR]

After the match, Public Enemy arrived for a brawl that saw Debra hit Johnny Grunge with the briefcase. The brawl made it to the commentary area before Grunge literally just stopped and walked to the back. Mongo and Jarrett got promo time with Gene, which was mostly just Jarrett bragging, Mongo yelling and Debra being awful.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Scott Norton
I feel like we haven’t seen Chavo in months. He tried an early slingshot cross body outside, but was caught and thrown in like nothing. Chavo attacked the leg to chop Norton down, but Scott shrugged it off. Norton won with a nasty powerbomb at 2:33 and said he needed some heavyweights. [NR]

Hollywood Hogan and Dennis Rodman had a short pre-taped promo in the back. They mentioned something about July, but not a ton was said.

WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Outsiders (c) vs. Bunkhouse Buck and Mike Enos
This is considered top quality opponents by the Outsiders. Buck bumped horribly on a Hall bulldog, causing Schiavone to call it an “elbow to the back of the head.” Enos wanted no part of the match, but Nash forced him to tag in. Surprisingly, Enos and Buck got in a double team move and even picked up a near fall. That was their only hope though, as the Outsiders quickly turned things around. Jackknife and Outsider’s Edge ended it at 5:06. I can’t believe the Outsiders sold at all for these guys. For that alone it gets a star. [*]

Billy Kidman vs. Chris Benoit w/ Woman
If this was a year or two later, it would be good. Kidman is just a ham and egger here, so Benoit kicked his ass. The Crossface made him tap out at 0:53. [NR]

Mean Gene tried getting a word with Benoit and Woman, but Ric Flair came out to a huge pop. Benoit ran down Kevin Sullivan, because that feud can never die. They moved onto Flair, the real person the crowd wanted to hear from. Roddy Piper seemed to say Flair dropped the ball by not showing up at Uncensored. Flair brought up Piper saying he wanted to go home to his family. He said there are two options. Go to the family or be a Horsemen and he’s a Horsemen.

Harlem Heat w/ Sister Sherri vs. The Steiner Brothers
Holy crap, they got Michael Buffer to introduce this match. I’m sure that cost more than the rest of the show’s production combined. Scott and Booker went at it in a preview of a WCW Title feud a few years down the road. Rick took a small beating before tagging out. He and Scott started hitting bigger moves, before things broke down. The nWo ran down and the match was thrown out at 3:23. [NR]

The Outsiders beat up Rick Steiner, while Hogan, Savage and others worked over Scott and Harlem Heat. Lex Luger and the Giant came out to help even things out. They cleaned house and the nWo retreated. When things seemed to calm down, Sting descended from the rafters and stood with the WCW guys. Hogan looked terrified as Sting pointed the bat at him. Can you believe this wouldn’t get a payoff for another nine months?

Raw Rating: 2.4
Nitro Rating: 3.6

6.0
The final score: review Average
The 411
Raw: Raw has been on fire lately and I don’t recall things letting up in 1997. The shades of grey stuff worked perfectly here, as you had WrestleMania opponents helping each other, all for the WWF Title. None of the matches are must see, but the fans ate up everything. The Bret promo to close things out was fantastic and a big moment for his career. Raw just felt like a show where you couldn’t miss a thing. 8.0

NITRO: Not a flat out bad show, but one that felt like a lot of filler. It felt like most things were just happening to kill time until the red-hot Sting stuff to close the show out. I understand the need for squash matches, but there were too many here and it felt extra weird because Nitro didn’t rely on that when it first started. It’s like they added a second hour and weren’t sure how to fill it. Just wait until they add that third hour. 4.0

legend

article topics :

Monday Night War, Nitro, RAW, WCW, WWE, Kevin Pantoja